Well, maybe I should ask first where are you spending this time? That might explain a lot.
Because if you are eg on the east coast of US, around North Carolina or Virginia- I am hearing weather is not that bad.
But if you are in Europe- Poland or somewhere east from here- well, you better make sure you’re wearing some layers and brace yourself before going outside and being exposed to negative 15 to 20 Celsius degrees (5 to negative 5 Fahrenheit degrees).

The only reason of getting a bit more hot around here is ACTA- the international agreement which is supposed to protect the rights to intellectual property. And similarly as SOPA- it does not give to much of specifics, leaving vast areas, which can be interpreted according to convenient situation by those who have power and money.
Unfortunately wide community protests against signing of ACTA have not been taken in the consideration and document was signed by Poland. Politicians (at least Polish) have been keeping their opinion that signing this document is important and necessary- even though many of them were not able to explain what ACTA represents and why signing it would be good for Polish people.

I am against signing ACTA and hope my domain won’t be taken down for saying so.

I have discovered this platform for exploring some interesting things not too long ago. One can find there some very inspirational and I have been enjoying seeing great finds by my friends as well as being able to share some of my finds with them.

When I was joining- I needed an invite. Not sure if it is working he same way right now- but if so, please leave a message below with your email and I will send you one!

Join me on Pinterest!

And now I can recommend visiting this place, because it’s definitely great to see for anyone, who may be interested in photography or perhaps- in the equipment or how it has changed over the time.

This museum is just perfect in size! Meaning- it doesn’t take half of a day to walk through and see everything and to not remember much from the exhibition in the first room when you get to the last one. I feel- it’s perfectly organized. You get to see first equipment and how it has been evolving and changing over the years.  So there are first projectors, camera obscura, as well as all designs of studio and than so called compact cameras by such known brand names as for example Kodak. You can see photographs taken with all the above equipment and see how styles have been changing over the years. There is also a small darkroom with some of the equipment used to process film. There is a little bit of info about Polish photographers, their styles and most popular subjects.

The only thing I wish was there- the link to the present and more recent cameras- both analog and digital.

Aside form the permanent exhibition, there are seasonal ones. Currently on the display are photographs of Thomas Lüttge presenting human in various existential situations he may be experiencing.

Description plates next to each exhibited piece are in Polish and English- so don’t be afraid to go there if you do not know Polish.

Museum is located about 10-15 minutes walk from the Main Square, at Jezuitow St, right of the Królewska St and very close from Inwalidów Place tram & bus stop (everything goes there!). Museum is opened Wed-Fri 11am-6pm and Sat 10am-3:30pm.  Their website: http://www.mhf.krakow.pl/.

I have no benefits by recommending the museum and wrote about it only to share my own experience. Logo used in this post belongs to Museum of History of Photography in Krakow.

For those not too much into the cameras… F6 is a film camera… LOL!

What is your way to express yourself?
And does it always mean, that you are trying to pour your thoughts, observation and point of view out- through your work?
Or maybe it’s just the best way to relax? To achieve personal peace?

Last week I was honored and very happy to be able to photograph quilt installations at Durham Arts Council. The installation, which is going to stay at DAC until the 3rd of October 2010.

I never before had such a close contact with quilts. I have seen some at stores, I have friend who loves quilts- but myself never got exposed to it enough, to understand fully what lays behind quilt making.
Last week visit at DAC and meeting with some of the creators of the quilts displayed at the gallery made this art of creating amazing pictures out of fabric so much closer to me!
And like with different artistic activities- I have learned from those quilters, that quilting brings a lot of joy, peace, great comfort of relaxing completely. But it also can be very expressive form, presenting very interesting ideas, sometimes very personal experiences.

If you do not live in the North Carolinian triangle area of Durham, Raleigh & Chapel Hill- I invite you to enjoy the slideshow below, or visit directly my gallery with photographs from the exhibition here:
http://www.joannakapicaphotography.com/quilts_dac80510

But if you are able to visit Durham Arts Council and enjoy this presentation of beautiful handmade art- I highly recommend it!

There is something I can myself say about HP- well, their customers service or maybe my personal experience with them. So it doesn’t work as help, when customer rep has to ask me 4 times during conversation what my problem is due to lack of his attention. Well- that’s just me, hope your is better.

The review mentioned above got me interested not because of HP rating, but because of the camera manufacturers ratings.
I mostly agree with everything they say. Brands, that have highest rankings, like Apple ( I have lots of respect for the innovations they are bringing to us, but does the iPad has to be so well locked? ) or Canon- long tradition in great photo equipment. I am happy to see, that Nikon has gained some trust- as I am using their products and so far I do rely and trust them.

Overall in camera category Canon, Panasonic and Nikon were leaders, followed by other brands.
I may not be the most experience person in this topic, but I wanted to add, that I do appreciate also company related to photo industry- Epson. They have shown great care of customer satisfaction and willingness to help, even when simple problems occurred.

I know many times experience of trust into one company product can be very personal and not always can be compared to others.  There is so many factors, that go into being satisfied with brand. And- I am sorry to say- how many times lack of knowledge of the product, of its features makes us unhappy about brand? Simple fact that some of us buy more expensive equipment to show of, just to complain later that is doesn’t work like we thought it would-only due to our lack of knowledge and experience.
These reasons usually do not come easy to admit. And they do affect our vision of brand names.

What’s your reliable brand? Whose products do you buy and trust, that in case of technical question or assistance you be sure you will be helped without any problems?